Hand-manipulated puppet

ABSTRACT

The embodiment of the invention disclosed herein takes the form of a hand-manipulated type of puppet which has an elongated tubular body section of thin, flexible plastic sheet material open at one end for receiving the user&#39;&#39;s hand. The opposite end is heat sealed closed and depicts an animal&#39;&#39;s face, or the like. The body portion of the puppet, when in a collapsed condition, has one thin sheet of material adjacently superimposing the other thin sheet of material and the face portion includes a mouth section located between the sheet forming the body portion. The mouth portion is formed of an integral thin sheet portion folded upon itself and positioned between the two superimposing sheets forming the body portion and may be formed as an integral part of the body portion with the side edge portions thereof cut away and heat sealed to form the closed periphery of the mouth section. The fingers of the user&#39;&#39;s hand may be employed to effect an opening and closing action of the mouth section when used as a puppet. The body portion preferably has one sheet thereof longer than the other at the open end with an aperture formed in the longer sheet for hanging the puppet to serve as a litter bag when desired.

United States Patent 1 Brandwein [451 July 24,1973

[ HAND-MANIPULATED PUPPET [76] Inventor: Edward K. Brandwein, 14A Lake Marian Rd., Carpentersville, 111. 601 10 22 Filed: Mar. 27, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 238,543

[52] US. Cl. 46/154, 46/11 [51] Int. Cl A63h 3/14 [58] Field of Search 46/11, 154

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,442,043 5/1969 Panzer 46/11 3,034,255 5/1962 Bacon 46/154 2,840,950 7/1958 Cotler 46/154 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-J. Q. Lever AttorneyRoy H. Olson et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT The embodiment of the invention disclosed herein takes the form of a hand-manipulated type of puppet which has an elongated tubular body section of thin, flexible plastic sheet material open at one end for receiving the users hand. The opposite end is heat sealed closed and depicts an animals face, or the like. The body portion of the puppet, when in a collapsed condition, has one thin sheet of material adjacently superimposing the other thin sheet of material and the face portion includes a mouth section located between the sheet forming the body portion. The mouth portion is formed of an integral thin sheet portion folded upon itself and positioned between the two superimposing sheets forming the body portion and may be formed as an integral part of the body portion with the side edge portions thereof cut away and heat sealed to form the closed periphery of the mouth section. The fingers of the users hand may be employed to effect an opening and closing action of the mouth section when used as a puppet. The body portion preferably has one sheet thereof longer than the other at the open end with an aperture formed in the longer sheet for hanging the puppet to serve as a litter bag when desired.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 HAND-MANIPULATED PUPPET BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to hand-manipulated puppets and more particularly to a puppet construction which is formed of an elongated tubular body which receives the hand of the user therein for manipulation.

Hand-manipulated puppets are relatively well known in the art and include a body portion having head and arms extending therefrom at or near a closed end portion and have an open end to receive the users hand. Usually the thumb and middle finger are inserted into the arms of the puppet while the middle finger or fingers extend into the puppets head before manipulation. This type of puppet requires a certain amount of dexterity on the part of the user and generally is difficult to manipulate by young children.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a simple puppet structure of the hand-manipulated type which is easily manipulated by moving the fingers and thumb in an up-and-down motion.

Another object of this invention is to provide a handmanipulated puppet of an improved structure wherein the puppet can be formed of a single sheet member and all components folded therefrom.

Another object of this invention is to provide a handmanipulated puppet which can serve as a litter bag when desired.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a hand-m anipulatedpuppet structure which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture while being readily disposable when used as a litter bag.

Briefly, the hand-manipulated puppet of this invention includes an elongated tubular body section of thin, flexible, plastic sheet material open at one extremity for receiving a users hand, the opposite extremity thereof being closed and depicting an animal's face or the like. The body portion of the puppet is formed of collapsed sheets adjacently superimposing one another and the face includes a mouth section located at the closed end of the tubular body with the mouth section having a sheet portion folded upon itself and between the body portions. Upon insertion of the users hand, the face section opens to expose the features of a mouth and manipulation thereof can provide puppetlike action. One of the superimposing sheets which form the body portion is made longer than the other at the open end of the body and an aperture is formed in the longer section to facilitate hanging of the puppet in an upside-down position to serve as a litter bag.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be more fully realized and understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals throughout the various views of the drawings are intended to designate similar elements or components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hand-manipulated puppet constructed in accordance with this invention, the puppet being shown in a fully collapsed condition;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the puppet of FIG. 1 with the solid lines indicating the collapsed condition of the puppet and the phantom lines indicating the expanded conditon of the puppet with the users hand therein;

FIG. 3 is an expanded perspective view of the puppet of FIG. 1 and shows the features of the mouth section;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken through the closed end portion of the puppet wherein the face and mouth section are formed; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternate and novel use of the puppet structure of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, a hand-manipulated puppet is shown in perspective view and designated generally by reference numeral 10. The puppet 10 has one extremity 12 which is closed off and forms the puppets face and another extremity 14 which is open and serves to receive a users hand for manipulation of the puppet. A face-like configuration l6is formed at the closed end 12 and may depict an animals face, or the like. However, the figure of the face shown herein is not to be considered a limiting feature and any suitable face or other configuration can be incorporated.

The puppet 10 is formed of a tubular body portion 18 which has upper and lower thin, flat flexible plastic sheet members 20 and 22, respectively superimposed oneon top the other and heat-sealed along their mating edges 21. As best seen in FIG. 2, a sheet portion 24 is formed at the closed end 12 and depicts a mouth opening with teeth and tongue, as shown more clearly in FIG. 3. The sheet portion 24 has a fold line 24a extending transversely of the tubular body 18 and may hve portions thereof connected to the upper and lower sheet members 20 and 22 by sealing or the like, this being shown along the side portions 30 of the sheet portion 24. Preferably, the sheet portion 24 is an integral part of the upper and lower sheet members 20 and 22 and is formed by folding over the sheet at or about the straight line portions between reference numeral 28, at the top and bottom portions of the mouth, and trimming and heat sealing is formed along tbe side edge portions indicated by reference numeral 30.

In the alternative, the sheet portion 24 may be a completely separate part and heat sealed at 2811 as well as at 30, as seen in FIG. 4.

Most advantageously, the tubular body 18 has one sheet thereof, here being shown as sheet 20, extending further than the other sheet as shown by reference numeral 20a and the longer portion includes an aperture 20b formed in the extended portion 20a. This allows the hand-manipulated puppet to be used as a litter bag, as shown in FIG. 5, by hanging the puppet in an upsidedown position on a suitable support 32 which passes through the aperture 20b.

What has been described is a simple and efficient hand-manipulated puppet structure which can also function as a litter bag or the like. While a single specific embodiment of the invention is illustrated herein, it will be understood that variations and modifications of this invention may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts as disclosed and claimed herein.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A hand-manipulated type of puppet including an elongated tubular body section of thin, flexible sheet plastic open at one extremity for receiving a users hand and having the opposite extremity thereof depicting a face, a smouth portion heat sealed to said opposite extremity by a primary heat seal to close off said tubular body section, said mouth portion when in a collapsed condition presenting a thin sheet adjacently superimposing another similarly shaped thin sheet which are joined by a secondary heat seal which is easily parted, the outer margins of the said sheet portion which forms said body sections and said mouth portions forming a hand receiving chamber, whereby the fingers of a users hand may be employed to effect the initial parting of said secondary heat seal so that opening and closing of 

1. A hand-manipulated type of puppet including an elongated tubular body section of thin, flexible sheet plastic open at one extremity for receiving a users hand and having the opposite extremity thereof depicting a face, a smouth portion heat sealed to said opposite extremity by a primary heat seal to close off said tubular body section, said mouth portion when in a collapsed condition presenting a thin sheet adjacently superimposing another similarly shaped thin sheet which are joined by a secondary heat seal which is easily parted, the outer margins of the said sheet portion which forms said body sections and said mouth portions forming a hand receiving chamber, whereby the fingers of a users hand may be employed to effect the initial parting of said secondary heat seal so that opening and closing of the mouth section can be effected during use.
 2. The hand-manipulated type of puppet according to claim 1 wherein one wall portion of said elongated tubular body is longer than the other wall portion at the open extremity thereof.
 3. The hand-manipulated type of puppet according to claim 2 wherein said longer wall portion has an opening formed therein to allow the puppet to be hung as a litter bag. 